by Dya Singh and Dr Jamel Kaur Singh<\/p>\n
After last week\u2019s column on Pauline Hanson, a familiar refrain surfaced again:<\/p>\n
\u201cMigrants are buying up Australia\u201d and killing the \u201cCastle\u201d dream!<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a powerful line.<\/p>\n
It taps into something primal.<\/p>\n
Land.<\/p>\n
Home.<\/p>\n
Security.<\/p>\n
But before we react \u2013 let\u2019s step back.<\/p>\n
Because property in Australia is not just an asset class.<\/p>\n
It is cultural mythology.<\/p>\n
For many Australians, home ownership represents stability, adulthood and achievement. <\/p>\n
The \u201cGreat Australian Dream\u201d is not just a house with a backyard \u2013 it is psychological reassurance.<\/p>\n
But here\u2019s what often gets missed: for many migrant families, property is not about greed. <\/p>\n
It is about survival memory.<\/p>\n
When you come from countries where governments have fallen, currencies have collapsed, property rights were uncertain, or conflict displaced families \u2013 land equals control.<\/p>\n
Not control over others.<\/p>\n
Control over your future.<\/p>\n
That mindset doesn\u2019t disappear at Customs.<\/p>\n
Culturally, some communities are wired \u2013 through lived history \u2013 to prioritise asset accumulation early.<\/p>\n
Pooling family income.<\/p>\n
Living multigenerationally.<\/p>\n
Sacrificing lifestyle for leverage.<\/p>\n
Other Australians prioritise independence first. Move out young. Travel. Rent. Build lifestyle before asset base.<\/p>\n
Neither approach is morally superior.<\/p>\n
They are cultural nuances.<\/p>\n
And then there are cultures \u2013 including First Nations communities \u2013 whose relationship with land is not ownership at all.<\/p>\n
It is custodianship.<\/p>\n
Belonging to the land.<\/p>\n
Not the land belonging to you.<\/p>\n
That worldview clashes fundamentally with Western capitalist property systems built on title, leverage and capital growth.<\/p>\n
So when we talk about \u201cwho owns Australia,\u201d we are not just talking about mortgages.<\/p>\n
We are talking about competing philosophies of land itself.<\/p>\n
Yes, there are legitimate debates around foreign investment policy.<\/p>\n
Yes, housing affordability is real.<\/p>\n
Yes, governments must ensure fair access and transparent rules.<\/p>\n
But the idea that migrants are somehow culturally programmed to \u201ctake over\u201d misunderstands what is actually happening.<\/p>\n
Many are simply following the same aspiration that built modern Australia in the first place: security through ownership.<\/p>\n
The difference?<\/p>\n
Some pursue it more strategically.<\/p>\n
Some pursue it collectively.<\/p>\n
And some delay it.<\/p>\n
The property market itself is shifting.<\/p>\n
Interest rates have stabilised.<\/p>\n
Rental demand remains strong.<\/p>\n
Selective softening is creating strategic opportunity.<\/p>\n
But fear distorts perspective.<\/p>\n
When housing becomes framed as \u201cus versus them\u201d, we stop asking better questions:<\/p>\n
Are we educating Australians on financial literacy equally?<\/p>\n
Are we aligning policy with long-term supply?<\/p>\n
Are we teaching portfolio thinking rather than emotional buying?<\/p>\n
Because here\u2019s the uncomfortable truth \u2013 markets reward strategy, not sentiment.<\/p>\n
And strategy is culturally learned.<\/p>\n
As migrant parents who built security brick by brick, property meant dignity.<\/p>\n
As a daughter working in strategic acquisition, property means leverage.<\/p>\n
Two generations.<\/p>\n
Two lenses.<\/p>\n
Same underlying principle: security matters.<\/p>\n
But fear will never solve affordability.<\/p>\n
Smart policy might.<\/p>\n
Financial education certainly would.<\/p>\n
And cultural maturity absolutely will.<\/p>\n
Truth be told\u2026 the real question isn\u2019t who is buying Australia.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s whether we understand why we all want to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Dya Singh and Dr Jamel Kaur Singh After last week\u2019s column on Pauline Hanson, a familiar refrain…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":525232,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-525231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=525231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/525232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=525231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=525231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=525231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}